Life is full of surprises. Expect them.

The world's axis shifted in more ways than one these past several days.

These days, one needs to have multiple personalities to keep up with all that is going on in the wider world, the country, the state, the community, and my own family.

Mother Nature had mercy on us this week and gave us some warm and sunny mid-March days to remind us that, yes, Virginia, there will be a spring. More daylight in the evening has allowed us to get outside after dinner. The early spring air smells so...muddy.

My vices of comfort this week have been the delectible taste of spring spinach and the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Honestly, the events of the past several days on all fronts have been life-changing. No whinging about my life - my family and I were not buried alive under a tsunami of mud.

But...there have been some very, very close calls this week with those closest to me. As my son John says, "Life is full of surprises. Expect them."